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This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

Sounds like a great hike. You weren't the only one who over dressed for the
weather today. Eight of us did the Sunday morning breakfast ride and we
were stopping every few miles to shed a piece of clothing. Everyone had
their pockets stuffed with clothing by the time we finished the ride. I
guess I can't complain as this is great weather for December.

Beverly

The Historian wrote:
This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

The Historian wrote:
This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

The Historian wrote:
While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

Oh, and any advice on sore quads? :-)

Neil
385/276/220

Have you compared the Fitday numbers with www.caloriesperhour.com ?
I've only compared cycling calories and they are very close between the two
sites.

Sorry - no advice for the sore quads except a day or two of rest and then
try it again! Gentle exercise of the sore muscles often helps me.

The Historian wrote:
This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

Oh, and any advice on sore quads? :-)

Neil
385/276/220

Okay I'd say. With my HRM I earn about 500 cals per hour for running on the
flat and I'm almost half your size so 1000 cals for 2 hours and I'm almost
half your size . And you were up and down hills although not running so
sounds reasonable.

The Historian wrote:
This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

The Historian wrote:
The Historian wrote:
This afternoon, I climbed Mt. Misery in Valley Forge. It was 1:15 PM
when I left the Neilmobile at Washington's Headquarters, and I
staggered back to my car at 3:30. During that time, I hiked up the side
of Misery, arriving at the top by a little after 2:30. The trail was
extremely rocky; last night, online, I stumbled across a description of
Pennsylvania trails as "where boots go to die", and I now know the
truth of that saying.

While at the summit, I hiked a little bit along the Horseshoe Trail,
and signed the trail register. I'm estimating that I walked about four
miles today, much of it climbing.

I still have a lot to learn about hiking. I didn't bring enough water,
for one. Also, I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

To see some of the Horseshoe Trail and other trails on Mt. Misery,
visit this site:

While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

Oh, and any advice on sore quads? :-)

Neil
385/276/220

Walking on the flat is said to be 100 cals per mile time weight/140 lb.

So you are 150 cal/mile on flat, and you did 4 miles. that would be 600
cal even on the flat. And this was considerably harder than that. so
1000 is quite plausible.

Rachael Reynolds wrote:
While I have your attention, folks, I have a Fitday question. Are the
suggestions for calories burned considered accurate, or excessively
high? Fitday suggests I burned a thousand calories in my two hours or
so of hiking. Even with all the climbing, that seems high.

Oh, and any advice on sore quads? :-)

Neil
385/276/220

Okay I'd say. With my HRM I earn about 500 cals per hour for running on the
flat and I'm almost half your size so 1000 cals for 2 hours and I'm almost
half your size . And you were up and down hills although not running so
sounds reasonable.

It was all uphill. Even the downhill parts were uphill! :-) No wonder
General Washington's troops were so unhappy.

Rachael Reynolds wrote:
I was far too heavily dressed for the unseasonably warm
weather. Halfway up the side of Misery I stopped and removed my jacket
and shirt. Fortunately, underneath I was wearing a T-shirt. So in
addition to the beauties of nature, other hikers got to see the
spectacle of a fat middle aged man with the phrase "I am the kid your
parents warned you about" printed on his chest.

PS Love the t-shirt!

Thank you. It was an extra large! ONLY an extra large! Yes, I can wear
an XL, folks! ( I don't look great in it, folks - I'm still far too
'lumpy' looking - but I can wear it without looking like I'm trying to
fool everybody and only fooling myself.) Non-scale victory!

Also, T-shirts with messages on them are not the style of the old Neil,
even the teenaged old Neil. So the weight loss and sudden boost in
activity could almost be described as a second childhood for me.
Everything is new to me - hiking, with biking in the future; trips to
places I've always wanted to go to, but lacked the stamina to visit. I
may be 40, but I am still young. And soon, very soon, I will have a
body that will keep pace with me. And yes, I am the kid - an old kid -
your parents warned you about!